DUNEDIN, Fla. (AP) _ David Wells was perfect in his first start of the spring, retiring six straight batters Thursday in the Toronto Blue Jays' 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Wells, who pitched a perfect game for the New York Yankees in 1998, threw 14 of 19 pitches for strikes.

``I just basically went out there and tried to throw strikes,'' Wells said. ``I tried to use all my pitches and, for the most part, I hit my spots.''

Pittsburgh starter Jason Schmidt went three innings, allowing an RBI double to Alex Gonzalez in the second.

Tim Laker singled home a run for Pittsburgh in the fourth against Clayton Andrews, and the Pirates went ahead in the eighth when loser Paul Quantrill walked former-Blue Jay Randy Knorr, who scored on Adrian Brown's double.

Winner Jimmy Anderson allowed two hits in three scoreless inning, and Marc Wilkins pitched two hitless innings for the save.

Notes: 2B Chris Woodward was scratched from the lineup because of a slight hamstring pull. ... Homer Bush returned to the lineup for the first time since he split his left thumbnail March 6 and went 0-for-3 with a walk as the designated hitter. ... Toronto reassigned RHP John Romano and INF Luis Lopez to its minor league camp.